Tuesday, July 10, 2012

You’re going to love how simple it is to make your own table
scarf. Adding a little bit of fabric can bring out texture and add dimension to
your table-top display. Also, this simple scarf can double as a chair scarf!
Just tie one around your kitchen chairs for a little dress-up. They would be
perfect for a bridal or baby shower or even a wedding!

What you’ll need:

¼ yard decorator’s fabric

Matching thread

Sewing machine

1. You'll start off by cutting the fabric in half, creating two long strips. I picked out this taffeta fabric that was half off at my local fabric store. It has a tendency to fray easily, so I included the instructions below to help alleviate that issue.

2. Next, you are going to change the setting on
your sewing machine to a small zig zag stitch where the points of the zig zag
are close together (I’m such a novice at sewing I don’t even know the technical
term for this!). Sew the zig zag around all sides of both pieces of fabric, as
close to the edge as you can get. This will help all of the edges from fraying.

3 3. Since you will still have some fraying, like the
photo below, just take your scissors and trim all around the sides of both
pieces of fabric, cutting close to the stitching you just made.

4. Take two of the short ends and put the right
face of the fabric together. Change your machine back to a straight stitch and
sew the right sides together with a ¼” seam.

2

5. If you are a little bit pickier than me, you can
go ahead and press that seam with a steam iron. This might take you an extra
few minutes, so it will be a “10-minute Scarf” instead!

Now go tie your scarf around a chair and be amazed what you
can accomplish in 5 minutes. You’re good!

When we moved into our new home a couple of months ago, I
noticed a big dark spot under the edge of one of the bathroom mirrors (see
photo below). It was pretty noticeable, but I knew there had to be a solution.
After looking on the internet for some ideas, I found some tutorials where
people had just added a frame of molding to the outside of their builders’
grade mirrors. The look was totally custom! With the help of our contractor,
who was doing some other work in our home, we put this baby up in about 15
minutes flat! Better yet, the materials only ended up costing around $50.­­­­­­­

While I had my contractor help me with the cuts and adhering
the mirror, I don’t see why anyone with a miter saw or miter box couldn’t do
this project with a couple of people.

What you’ll need:

Enough molding to surround your bathroom mirror

Paint and/or glaze

Paintbrush

Miter saw or miter box and hand saw

Silicone & silicone gun

Painter’s tape

1. Buy your molding. I discussed my mirror idea
with my contractor, Kelly. He had never seen it done before but thought it
sounded like a fun idea. He helped me measure how much molding I was going to
need. I went to my local home improvement store and found some molding that you
could buy by the piece instead of by the foot. What I found was white plastic
“casing” that was a little over $11 per piece.

2. Start painting! I decided on a creamy white
paint that I already had at home. I only did one coat and then added some glaze
afterward.

3. Here is a photo of the pieces after I put on the
glaze (Mine was Van Dyke Brown from Sherwin Williams. To apply, just paint on a
tiny amount with a sponge brush and then wipe off with a soft cloth.). I also
ended up going back to the store and buying an additional piece of wood to add
to the original. This made my frame extra wide but still looks like one piece.
These pieces were $5 each.

4. Now you’re ready to cut your pieces. Remember –
it is always better to cut them a hair too big and trim them down if needed.
You’ll never be able to add back to the wood!
We measured the outside edge of the mirror to see how long the pieces
needed to be and cut them down with the miter saw at a 45 degree angle.

1 5. Then we measured the inside edge of the large
molding piece and cut the smaller board to fit the inside edge. Here are the
boards after cutting:

6. Now adhere the boards to the mirror. I was planning
to use Liquid Nails to adhere to the mirror, but since some of my boards were
made of plastic, my contractor suggested we use silicone. Just the clear kind
you would use to caulk a bathroom tub with. He said there was a good chance the
Liquid Nails would melt through the plastic. I couldn’t argue with that – he
really knows what he’s doing.

We just took the piece that would be at the bottom of the mirror
and ran a long bead of silicone across the bottom, then dotting some silicone
every 6 inches. We put the sides on next and the top piece on last. Then we
went ahead and added the smaller pieces.

1 7. You’ll want to tape the corners with painter’s
tape to secure them. Also tape the top piece up really good and leave the tape
on overnight.

1 8. You can go ahead and seal up the gaps in the
corners (if there are any) and touch them up. This makes it look really
professional!